In Kashmir, people generally explain politics by inventing metaphors. A metaphor, as we know, is a result of a complex processing of complex realities. On the face of it, the divided nature of the polity revealed by the latest assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has been rightly articulated in the "Agenda of The Alliance" agreed upon by the coalition partners in the new state government, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Peoples Democratic Party.
The Agenda is essentially about upholding status quo on all major issues, including the constitutional provision of Article 370 that gives the region autonomy, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that protects the security forces from prosecution and the status of refugees from West Pakistan in the state. These are issues over which the alliance partners have diametrically opposing views. This alliance and the Agenda materialised even though the PDP has deceptively crafted an image of "soft separatism" for itself and the post-Vajpayee BJP declined to even acknowledge separatism in the state except as "terrorism". The alliance has already been metaphorically likened to an impossibility being realised: Mercury, a metal, turning miscible with water.
The defining, ironic image of the new alliance has already become BJP stalwart Murli Manohar Joshi's hugging the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti at the coalition government's investiture ceremony on Sunday. It is a long way from another defining image, that of Joshi unfurling the Indian tricolor atop a military bunker amid rebel rocket fire in Srinagar's Lal Chowk more than two decades ago.
Coming out
But, in reality, when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir, the political objectives of the PDP patriarch and now the chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have always been closest to that of the BJP. Sayeed differed with the saffron party only in rhetoric, which was revealed to the people of the state after his preference for forming the government with the BJP became clear. He began to speak clearly, or less deceptively, after his negotiations with the BJP's ideological apparatus established trust between the two sides. It is important to remember that the government in New Delhi is the first with an absolute majority since the armed rebellion in Kashmir. Sayeed sensed a "historic opportunity" to come out clear with his political conviction and help New Delhi consolidate its position in Kashmir.
In his first major interview after the elections, which Sayeed gave in India's financial capital, Mumbai, he said the legacy he wanted to leave was to unite Jammu with Kashmir and the state with India. He has never been so direct since the formation of the PDP. If the Congress had allowed Sayeed to put on a cloak of soft separatism, the BJP needed him to untie it. He finally dropped the cloak of deception at the press conference immediately after taking oath in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence.
"This is not an alliance of convenience, it is my conviction," Sayeed said, while padding the declaration with his usual rhetoric enhancing people-to-people contact with Pakistan-administered Kashmir etc.
Smoke screen
But he also wielded a double-edged sword, perhaps to compensate for his instant loss of credibility and the new discontent that is brewing in Kashmir valley.
"I want to say on record and I have told this to the prime minister, that we must credit the Hurriyat, Pakistan and militant outfits for the smooth conduct of assembly elections in the state," Sayeed said at the press conference, hoping that the controversy around the statement would offset some of the discontent his alliance with the BJP has generated in the state. "People from across the border made the atmosphere conducive. They also have assets – Hurriyat, militants...without that such a participation of people would not be possible."
This was also aimed at maintaining a certain traction with Modi and the BJP on the one hand, and chipping away at the credibility of the separatist forces among the people of Kashmir on the other. But in doing so, Sayeed revealed only that half of the truth that helps him consolidate his own position. It is a widely held belief in Kashmir that subtle means were adopted by invisible forces opposed to Indian rule to encourage the Muslims to vote in large numbers, primarily to keep the BJP at bay. It was confirmed after Sayeed's preference for joining hands with BJP became clear, when most of the newly elected PDP legislators received calls from underground activists on both sides of the Line of Control warning them not to agree with their leader to an alliance with the saffron party.
Sayeed at 79, with a career spanning five decades is the most experienced politician in the state today. He understands the risks he has taken, yet he has smoothly used all the talent and political capital within his party to take this gamble. The PDP patriarch also knows that he is already being likened to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, whose person and party, the National Conference, he fought his entire life.
To most Kashmiris, it is still unfathomable that Sayeed would stake all that he has at a time when his party has almost replaced his bete noire, the National Conference, in the new conditions. Many believe that he knows this was his last chance at winning his lifelong dream of chiefministership for a full term and that he finally lost patience. In the process, Sayeed may have made it that much more difficult for his daughter Mehbooba to survive in the ever-tumultuous political waters of Kashmir.
Saffron surge
A common refrain now in Kashmir valley is that if Sayeed was attempting to bring Kashmiris close to India, he has actually achieved the opposite since he has facilitated the entry of the RSS in Kashmir. The PDP's alliance with the Hindu nationalists also highlights how electoral politics in the state can be driven in any direction by servicing the interests of various collectives. The BJP's power sharing deal in the state will enable it to cultivate political loyalties among Muslim groups by helping their non-political interests. But Sayeed is depending on his new lieutenants, who have succeeded in selling him the idea that fast-track development and delivering good services can replace the most deeply entrenched, even if now muted, aspiration of breaking free from New Delhi's rule of Kashmir.
"The PDP has lost a historic opportunity to form an alliance with parties which do not have the long-term agenda of a Hindu nationalist India and, more importantly, reveal to Jammu that it need not have Hindu legislators to experience equity in political justice, economic equity and civic amenities," said historian and astute political commentator Dr Siddiq Wahid.
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The Agenda is essentially about upholding status quo on all major issues, including the constitutional provision of Article 370 that gives the region autonomy, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that protects the security forces from prosecution and the status of refugees from West Pakistan in the state. These are issues over which the alliance partners have diametrically opposing views. This alliance and the Agenda materialised even though the PDP has deceptively crafted an image of "soft separatism" for itself and the post-Vajpayee BJP declined to even acknowledge separatism in the state except as "terrorism". The alliance has already been metaphorically likened to an impossibility being realised: Mercury, a metal, turning miscible with water.
The defining, ironic image of the new alliance has already become BJP stalwart Murli Manohar Joshi's hugging the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti at the coalition government's investiture ceremony on Sunday. It is a long way from another defining image, that of Joshi unfurling the Indian tricolor atop a military bunker amid rebel rocket fire in Srinagar's Lal Chowk more than two decades ago.
Coming out
But, in reality, when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir, the political objectives of the PDP patriarch and now the chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have always been closest to that of the BJP. Sayeed differed with the saffron party only in rhetoric, which was revealed to the people of the state after his preference for forming the government with the BJP became clear. He began to speak clearly, or less deceptively, after his negotiations with the BJP's ideological apparatus established trust between the two sides. It is important to remember that the government in New Delhi is the first with an absolute majority since the armed rebellion in Kashmir. Sayeed sensed a "historic opportunity" to come out clear with his political conviction and help New Delhi consolidate its position in Kashmir.
In his first major interview after the elections, which Sayeed gave in India's financial capital, Mumbai, he said the legacy he wanted to leave was to unite Jammu with Kashmir and the state with India. He has never been so direct since the formation of the PDP. If the Congress had allowed Sayeed to put on a cloak of soft separatism, the BJP needed him to untie it. He finally dropped the cloak of deception at the press conference immediately after taking oath in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence.
"This is not an alliance of convenience, it is my conviction," Sayeed said, while padding the declaration with his usual rhetoric enhancing people-to-people contact with Pakistan-administered Kashmir etc.
Smoke screen
But he also wielded a double-edged sword, perhaps to compensate for his instant loss of credibility and the new discontent that is brewing in Kashmir valley.
"I want to say on record and I have told this to the prime minister, that we must credit the Hurriyat, Pakistan and militant outfits for the smooth conduct of assembly elections in the state," Sayeed said at the press conference, hoping that the controversy around the statement would offset some of the discontent his alliance with the BJP has generated in the state. "People from across the border made the atmosphere conducive. They also have assets – Hurriyat, militants...without that such a participation of people would not be possible."
This was also aimed at maintaining a certain traction with Modi and the BJP on the one hand, and chipping away at the credibility of the separatist forces among the people of Kashmir on the other. But in doing so, Sayeed revealed only that half of the truth that helps him consolidate his own position. It is a widely held belief in Kashmir that subtle means were adopted by invisible forces opposed to Indian rule to encourage the Muslims to vote in large numbers, primarily to keep the BJP at bay. It was confirmed after Sayeed's preference for joining hands with BJP became clear, when most of the newly elected PDP legislators received calls from underground activists on both sides of the Line of Control warning them not to agree with their leader to an alliance with the saffron party.
Sayeed at 79, with a career spanning five decades is the most experienced politician in the state today. He understands the risks he has taken, yet he has smoothly used all the talent and political capital within his party to take this gamble. The PDP patriarch also knows that he is already being likened to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, whose person and party, the National Conference, he fought his entire life.
To most Kashmiris, it is still unfathomable that Sayeed would stake all that he has at a time when his party has almost replaced his bete noire, the National Conference, in the new conditions. Many believe that he knows this was his last chance at winning his lifelong dream of chiefministership for a full term and that he finally lost patience. In the process, Sayeed may have made it that much more difficult for his daughter Mehbooba to survive in the ever-tumultuous political waters of Kashmir.
Saffron surge
A common refrain now in Kashmir valley is that if Sayeed was attempting to bring Kashmiris close to India, he has actually achieved the opposite since he has facilitated the entry of the RSS in Kashmir. The PDP's alliance with the Hindu nationalists also highlights how electoral politics in the state can be driven in any direction by servicing the interests of various collectives. The BJP's power sharing deal in the state will enable it to cultivate political loyalties among Muslim groups by helping their non-political interests. But Sayeed is depending on his new lieutenants, who have succeeded in selling him the idea that fast-track development and delivering good services can replace the most deeply entrenched, even if now muted, aspiration of breaking free from New Delhi's rule of Kashmir.
"The PDP has lost a historic opportunity to form an alliance with parties which do not have the long-term agenda of a Hindu nationalist India and, more importantly, reveal to Jammu that it need not have Hindu legislators to experience equity in political justice, economic equity and civic amenities," said historian and astute political commentator Dr Siddiq Wahid.
